Bound to protect

Another raksha bandhan has come and gone. And as usual there is not a single rakhi on me. Of course I dont have any sisters. And then this was never a festival of the iyengar clan. But that should not have deterred the girls from tying a rakhi! Nah....I am not complaining.

Let me go back to my school days. I guess till the age of 10 or 11 there was always a competition in the class among the boys to see who gets the most number of rakhis. The boys used to beam with pride as they had rakhis upto their elbow! And then some more in the pocket with the thread just hanging out, only to show that they have more but no space left. I dont know why I had an aversion towards the rakhi. I never liked to get a rakhi tied. Of course I didnt have anything against the concept (of protection and the likes). It was just that I never liked any jazzy thing on my hand. Stangely, not many girls even tried to tie one. I guess they could sense my discomfort and disinterest with the whole thing. And of course I dont think they were confident enough that I would protect them! I was never a part of the competition.

Things changed drastically once the boys turned into teenagers. Now the hormones were in play and not all the boys were keen on getting rakhis tied from all the girls! Of course some they didnt mind, but for every guy there was at least one girl who he didnt want to get a rakhi tied from. I still remember a classmate of mine being chased all around school by a girl to tie a rakhi! And the girls too used the occasion to their advantage. It was a way to tell the guy that they were not interested in him and just stay away from her! I think there were some occassions now where a couple of girls tried to tie a rakhi to me. I of course accepted with pleasure but cautioned them telling I might remove it maybe minutes after they tied it! Only since I was not comfortable. But these were one off incidents and no one really bothered to tie one on me.

I am not a teenager anymore. I do not have any sisters (no regrets too!). And raksha bandhan has never been a festival in my life. But the essence of the concept is a thing I admire. The fairer sex might disagree but after all the men are here to protect them, sisters or otherwise, with or without the rakhi in hand...........

Chak de, they say

The captain of the Chandigarh hockey team or as Kabir Khan would put it, the hockey player from India rejected the proposal made by the cricket player to marry him. After all that was bound to happen. It was as inevitable as the girls winning the hockey tournament or the coach Kabir Khan gaining back his lost dignity. If any of the above had not happened the way it had, then the reviews of the movie Chak De India would have been quite different. Just like how the coach asks the girls to play with the minds of the opposition, the movie makers play with the audiences. Its just psychology.

Having said that, I dont think the movie is going to make a lot of difference to women's hockey. Or for that matter, women's sports. I am not portraying cynicism, nor am I being a pessimist. But the movie is not going to encourage women to pick up hockey sticks. People will watch the movie for three hours, pray that the team wins the cup, girls will go ga-ga over Shah Rukh, guys will try to form an opinion on who is the most beautiful among the 16 girls and the movie makers will make money.

But then the movie is amazing. After Swades this is one of the best from Shah Rukh. Watch it!!!

Post 100

Its post 100. After contemplating for a long time on what should the 100th post be on, I have decided to make it a low key affair. We will not have any champagne as we did on the 50th post!The post is dedicated only to the blog.

How did I come across a blog?
I had no idea what a blog was till april 2005. A friend of mine showed me a post on this blog. He also explained what a blog actually is. I fell in love with the concept almost instantly. Those were the days I had access to internet in the company where I was carrying out my final semester internship. I started blog surfing everyday. Soon I had my favourites.

Why did I start my blog?
It was nearly a year since I had started reading blogs. Though the thought of starting my own blog had crossed my mind a number of times it was in Feb 2006 that I decided to embark on it. The word 'perspicacite' means insight in French. The caption "Stepping Stones Stumbling Blocks" comes from one of my most favourite sayings - "The secret of life is to build stepping stones out of stumbling blocks." My blog was born and my first post published.

Do I want people to read it?
I maintain a blog so that people read it. Believe me, the blog will survive only if people read it. If I had wanted to keep this blog private I might have maintained a journal.

Who is supposed to read it?
Though the blog is in the public domain I really have reservations on who should read it. I choose my readers. I dont advertise. This blog has some of my innermost thoughts and desires that I prefer to share only with some people.

How is a post born?
Every post that I write is an outcome of something inspirational. But where does the motivation come from? Well it could be anything ranging from my own thoughts to some event or something that I might have come across in newspapers, magazines or in the television or the internet. Or it could also be some thoughts born out of a conversation with someone or maybe the result of a chat with someone. Once the idea is conceived, it takes a day to pen down my thoughts. Sometimes I finish writing a post in 10 minutes, at times it has taken days. But I have always written every post in one shot and have never revisited the content before publishing. Thus there is always a chance of grammatical mistakes.

Do I expect comments?
Of course, I do. Without feedback how do you expect me to improve.

Isnt the blog very monotonous?
I have been told that it is. I need to add more variety.

Isnt the blog centered around one person always referred to as 'Her'?
Of course it is. I need to change the approach.

Do I mind if my parents or brother read my blog?
Maybe the blog is not ready for them yet!

What happened to the guest post thing?
Now this is something I am very disappointed with. Maybe I really had high expectations. Or maybe I was not successful in convincing people to write one. I got 2 posts, published one of them and have kept the other one on hold as requested by the author. But I am not going to give up.

When will the blog perish?
As already mentioned it will die the day I find that no one reads it.

Hope I can reach the 200th post.............

Tryst with Madras

I got down from the cab near Chalukya hotel. My weekend trip to Madras has begun. I began my long walk all along the race course to Majestic. The weather was really pleasant with a cool breeze and a light drizzle. I reached Majestic at seven-thirty, had roti-curry and sugarcane juice and again began walking along the central business district towards the railway station. I SMSed a friend of mine who I was sure would be coming to the railway station in the night. She replied in the positive. She is someone who I have known since my school days and one of the very few who knows the identity of my crush. She doesnt miss a chance to pull my leg about it. I bought a copy of Outlook and settled down on Platform One. Udayan Express bound to Dadar was ready for departure. A couple from a foreign land was in the train right in front of me. They must have clicked around 10 photographs of the platform (I was in at least 5 of them). The Udayan Express left half an hour late. A couple of girls sat on the same bench next to me. One of them asked "Excuse me Sir, Is this platform one?" I nodded my head telling " Yes Mam, I think it is." I went back to reading about Sanjay Dutt's conviction. My train, the Madras Mail, came in at ten. Its a train I have been in at least 20 times. My hopes of a Iyengar Girl sitting next to me were curtailed. I had T Sekar, Selvaraj, Pazani, Murugan and Anbazagan for company in my compartment. The train left at 10:45. I didnt meet my friend.

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I started sweating at 4:30 in the morning. That is the first sign of entering Madras. It is always hot. I have believed that hot girls equals hot weather. But you rarely see hot girls on the streets. There are the demure ones who are very reticent and shy. The only difference I see is that these days a small percentage have started wearing jeans. But then they havent let go of their old hairstyles.

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I reached my Grandmother's home at 5 :30, put on the AC and had a cup of coffee. And then I went to sleep. Lunch was at 9 AM. That might sound absurd, but then that is lunch time in Tamil Nadu. My Grandmother (GM) asked me (in Tamil, of course)

GM : When are you going to study?

Me : Hmm...Err...

GM : You must be 24 now.

Me : 23

GM : 23 uh...hmm.....you can get married at 27. Should I look for the girl or will you do it yourself?

Now this is the question that might sound simple but then a lot hangs on the answer.

Me : Of course you can look. I dont care.

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I went shopping with my mom and grandmother. My shopping list had been prepared 3 weeks in advance. It had 2 items on it - a watch and a formal trouser - black in color. I could have finished it once hour. Ten minutes for the watch, 5 for the trouser and 45 for travelling. We ended up spending a lot more time since my mom's list was much larger. We entered a watch showroom. I asked just one question to the sales guy - "Which is the watch Ad that keeps coming on TV these days?" "Fastrack, Sir", he replied. I looked at the Fastrack collection and picked one in 2 minutes. We were out of the shop in 15. I could sense the disappointment in my mom's face. She had planned to spend at least an hour. I bought the trouser in 10 minutes. We then spent a lot of time on my mom's list. One of them included a huge jewellery store. As my mom and grandmother looked at gold bangles, I looked at people in the overcrowded shop. No sign of any pretty iyengar girls. Which young girl wears gold jewellery these days anyway. And my watch new beeps once every hour.

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I was left alone with the auto driver for sometime during the shopping spree. It was decided, after my expendable comments and opinions during bangle shopping, that I am better off in the auto than in the vessel shop. I have known this auto driver (AD) for many years now. He started conversing, in Tamil of course.

AD : So you work for a software company is it?

Me : Yes....

AD : Tell me something, why do you people have holidays on both saturday and sunday?

Me : Hmm....err.....I have never really thought about it.....

AD : There must be some reason though......

I was beginning to feel foolish. I dont even know why we have a 5 day week.

Me : I know....I know.....Its due to the americans. The software companies started there and since they follow a 5 day week, we too copied it.

AD : Ah....could be......but tell me what do the software engineers do actually....Do you invent anything?

Now this was a tough question. But how can I let my clan down.

Me : Well....today everyting is being done by computers.....you see for eg. big banks and hospitals do their work on computers and the software engineers maintain it. And we also invent a lot of things.

Before he could ask what I have invented till now, my mom and GM came back from vessel shopping and I was saved.

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I met a relative of mine. He is my grandfather's brother (GB) and a very old man. He was a big lawyer during his days and still provides consultancy. He spoke to me in impeccable English

GB : You know, all of five generations including your great great grandfather, your great grandfather, your grandfather have been lawyers....but these days you kids dont choose it as a profession.

Me : Hmm.....

GB : It is a really challenging job....tell me.... what is law....define it in one sentence

Me : Uh!.....well.....err........

GB : What is it that you plan to study now.....

Me : I have plans of pursuing an MBA.

GB : Hmm...that is also good.....whatever you do you must do it properly....

He gets up and picks ups a book from the shelf - 10 day MBA by Steven Silbeger.

GB : Have you read this book?

Me : No

GB : Strange...I expect you to read it. I am reading it now and I find that all you need to do is babble.

Me : Hmmm........

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I met another relative (AR) of mine and had lunch with them the next morning. At 9 am.

AR : So you must be around 25 or 26 now....

Me : No....23

AR : Then you have lots of time. You can get married at 28...ideal age.

Me : Hmm......

AR : So where do you work?

I mentioned the name of the company.

AR : Good....so what do you work on?

Me : I work on TVs

AR : Hmm...TVs...good. So what exactly do you do? Do you manufature them?

Me : No...I write software...TVs run on chips and the chips run on software.

AR : But what is it that you are trying to write.

Me : Well we improve things like picture quality and add features.

AR : The picture quality is pretty good now...what more can you improve.

Me : Also we have analog TVs still in India.....there are digital TVs nowadays.....I work on them.

AR : Ah....this Raj TV (a tamil tv channel) claims to be digital. But it is really bad, very hazy, and lots of block and the video is not smooth at times. Maybe you can do something about it.

Me : Maybe........

AR : You should study further.

Me : Ok....

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I boarded the train back to bangalore. No pretty iyengar girls again. Only boring tamil speaking aunties. I reached Bangalore at 4 in the morning. I was staring out of the window from the train and saw pretty girl on the platform in bangalore cantontment. A cold breeze was blowing. I guess it is pretty girls equals cold weather.

On the lookout

I may not be a big fan of Orkut. But then my roommate and I have this weekly ritual of profile surfing on Orkut. Another roomate of mine has been courteous enough to save his orkut password and also disable the profile visitor checking thing. This means that we have the gateway opened to a wide range of possibilities.

The profile surfing starts with just entering any random profile and then searching for the keyword 'female' in the search box. Now I am not ashamed to tell this. After all I expect every girl or guy to do it. Its just the hormones at play! My roomate and I then start entering into profiles which we find interesting.

Now I have seen that there are various types of females on Orkut. But the profiles we usually enter into are the ones who have been bold enough to post a photograph of themselves. Just a photograph wont do. We enter the profile only if we find the female at least remotely pretty! But then beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. So we reach a consensus first. Once we enter a profile the first thing we check is if the girl is married/committed/single! We proceed only if single.

Then we look at the photographs section. Now this is the thing that helps us form an opinion. Not all girls post their photographs. I cant understand why girls have to upload photos of flowers, mountains, babies or dogs! But then as a columnist in the Times of India mentioned - "Gender specific behaviour is more a matter of social indoctrination and subliminal prompting rather than personal choices or volition." Before I digress, flowers I can live with, babies I like, mountains are beautiful, but dogs!! Now that is something I cant live with. And why must they name their dogs sweetieeeeee or cutieeeeee (emphasis of the "e"). I dont find them even remotely cute or sweet.

But maybe thats whats missing. As my roomate mentioned, maybe its time to get a dog. We have anyway not been able to attract females, maybe we have a better chance by showing that we love dogs! Or maybe just take a couple of pics with dogs and post them on Orkut. Or maybe just change the profile in Orkut to reflect that you like pets rather than mentioning that I like them in the zoos!

The female readers of this blog might have already termed me as an stupid insensitive jerk, but then please dont judge too soon! I have my camera with me and am looking for a cute and sweet dog! Will post a photo soon!!!!

Tummy trails....

I was just sipping some mango juice along with my room-mates last weekend when lo and behold!!! What was that I noticed??? A hint of a tummy. Yeah on all of us actually. Though mine was turning out to be the most prominent!!

A tummy could have been argued to be the sign of a happy person, but I dont think its the case anymore. A tummy is a strict no in today's world. The fairer sex frowns at the presence of one. So whats the action plan (as asked by every manager!). Well I dont have one. Exercise could be the answer. But given the fact that my attempts at jogging in the morning have been a total disaster, I am reluctant to try again!

So how in heaven's name is this tummy going to disappear. Maybe not eat for somedays! All that will lead to is me falling sick. Maybe cut down on junk food for a while. Now that could be an answer. Its diet control....and maybe....just maybe ... some exercise.....

Friends???

It was supposed to be friendship day yesterday. I received SMS's from two people wishing me for the same. One from a person I least expected to bother to send such messages and another from a number not in my phone book;so I have no idea who it is!

I was also mentioning to a friend of mine on how lame I find the concept of friendhsip day! Only a personal opinion though. But then I was wondering whether I did have any 'friends'. Have I really understood the meaning of friendship. I do have quite a lot friends, some very close, some not so close. But what is this true friendship that people talk about, or the friends for ever stuff that crops up on every friendship day. I have never understood that!

I am confused..........